Žlabių family representative says child specialists were unprepared

The State Child Rights Protection and Adoption Service’s psychologists were unprepared for a meeting with the Žlabių family’s children, the family’s representative told LRT’s ELTA news agency on Friday.

“Four psychologists came to see three older children. One child’s interview lasted more than an hour — that is not listening to the child’s opinion. The specialists came without being prepared for this procedure,” assistant lawyer Dalia Jasevičienė said.

She said the family believed the authorities were creating obstacles to cooperation. The family plans to file complaints over the actions of the specialists, including the removal of a psychologist who had previously worked with the family.

“The children spoke with employees appointed by the service, but a psychologist who had already communicated with the family and had been introduced to them was suddenly removed. The family sees this as another way of creating obstacles to cooperation and then blaming the family for them,” Jasevičienė said.

Representatives of the State Child Rights Protection and Adoption Service met the Žlabių family’s children on Friday after at least two previous attempts had failed. The service said its psychologists spoke with all the children and listened to and recorded their views.

The case became public in late July after a baby with Patau syndrome died at Kaunas Clinics. The State Child Rights Protection and Adoption Service, which was unaware of the death, decided to remove six children from the family, including the deceased baby.

Kaunas Clinics had informed child rights officials about the baby’s serious condition but notified them of the death several days later. Child rights officials said the information about the baby’s condition was not the sole reason for removing the other children from the family, which lives in Ukmergė district. They said the decision was based on the totality of circumstances indicating a need to ensure the children’s safety.

Ukmergė District Mayor Darius Varnas told ELTA that the family refused medical services and opposed vaccinations.

The Vilnius Regional Prosecutor’s Office has opened a pre-trial investigation into suspected abuse of parental rights or duties to establish the exact circumstances of the baby’s death.